Landfall
by AstorOsprey
Summary: Follow the story of a Turian crew and human soldiers as they make first contact. AU story, no time travel or dimension switches, simply occurring before the events of the games. Rated T for now for Language, may be upgraded to M later on for other content (gore, violence, and strong language). In the meantime, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello readers! Welcome to my new Mass Effect story: Landfall! As for my first two stories, I let them go to the wayside, and I might pick them up again, who knows, but as for now consider them on semi-permanent hiatus. As for an update schedule on this story, I do not have one, since I am in college and can only write on an inconsistent basis but hopefully I can keep a steady stream of updates flowing!**

 **Now, as for the premise of this new story…**

 **The plot takes place in an AU first contact scenario between a group of Turians and humans. There are no time-travel aspects, so that means no Shepard, but you might see some parallels eventually. As for the year, I'll leave it to you readers to find out that much. Yeah yeah, that's all I'm giving you for background, deal with it! Now, without further ado, I present… Landfall.**

 **P.S. – I can't find any data on crew compliments for a Turian frigate, so let's just assume that there are 200 men and women aboard, shall we? Unless anyone cares to enlighten me. Thanks.**

 **-Astor**

 **Mass Effect doesn't belong to me. My OC's and the story, on the other hand, do!**

-break-

It was like any other day aboard the Aurus-class frigate _Prima_. Ship Master Palidus went over reports from his subordinates, first his second in command Lieutenant Commander Caedos, a female officer who has proven herself and risen quickly through the ranks. Her report returned nothing of note, apart from the engineering staff complaining of frequent energy surges, nothing to take into much consideration.

After reading the latest of Caedos' well-written reports, he changes focus on his omni-tool to news from the senior army officer aboard, Major Baculus. A well-respected man, he leads his small company with a sense of comradery and brotherhood, a fact that earns him praise from his enlisted soldiers. Apart from the latest updates on the readiness of the soldiers and training routines planned, nothing out of the ordinary, leaving Palidus to manage the bridge.

"Navigation, report." Palidus asks, prompting a quick reply.

"On course, sir. Preparing to enter the relay, destination set to the Serpent Nebula. Our E.T.A. is five minutes", states a young officer manning their station.

"Good to hear. Pilot, prepare to make the jump. Engineering, begin to bring up engine power in preparation, keep an eye out for any surges and notify me of any inconsistencies."

At this command, the Ship Master receives "Aye" from both stations.

Satisfied with his crew, Palidus toggles the ship-wide PA system, "Crew, this is the Ship Master. We are preparing to make the relay to the Citadel. I am proud of your service these past weeks and hope you enjoy your shore leave. Prepare for jump." With these final words, he sits back, observing his officers until the relay connects, starting their acceleration.

As the ship is pulled in closer to the ancient, massive structure, the engineering officer calls out frantically, "Sir, massive energy spike in the drive core! Larger than any others we've seen today!"

 _Shit, we're too far into the relay sequence to abort…_ "Hold steady everyone! Engineering, try anything you can to keep the ship from losing systems, we have to push through." Hitting the ship-wide comms again, "All hands, brace for a rough jump and prepare damage control"

As Palidus speaks those few words the _Prima_ is shot through space at incredibly high speeds. Against all the attempts of the engineers, the power surge spreads, shorting all primary systems such as navigation, communication, even the chronometer. Life support, emergency lights, and some thruster power are all that remain as the ship exits the relay.

"Spirits, where are we?!" The Ship Master questions as the viewport reveals not the nebula in which the behemoth station resides but a star, being orbited by multiple planets.

The navigations officer is first to respond, "We lost all of our star charts and databases sir, as well as communications, so no way to find our exact location, but I can assure you we are nowhere near the Citadel…" she states, confused.

"I can see that Lieutenant. Pilot, any maneuvering capability?"

From the pilot's chair, he replies, "Limited sir, barely enough to accelerate or decelerate at all. I can say that we are currently on course to strike what seems to be the third planet from the star."

"Hmm, alright then. Try your best to set us up for a low orbit if you can. If not, make it the smoothest crash-landing that it can be. Everyone else, try to get systems back up and find out if that planet is at least habitable."

Again, a chorus of "Aye" can be heard throughout the bridge as all stations begin their work, the planet hurtling ever closer.

 _Spirits help us…_

-break-

Planetside, the entirety of the Earth was in turmoil. To Corporal David Conti, he was in the center of it. He and the remainder of his ranger platoon were holding off waves of enemy infantry while doing the best they could to both conserve their ammo and not freeze to death. The Ardennes was a cold hell to him as he fired off more rounds from his M1 Garand rifle.

Through the thick forest, shouts of "Schnell!" and "Vorwarts!" could be heard from the German officers while another squad of Wehrmacht advanced on their foxholes.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" Conti shouted in rhythm with his shots until a metallic clang told him he had run out of rounds. "I need ammo! I'm all out!" He shouted in vain as all his platoon were in similar straits. _Well screw it, if I'm going down might as well give 'em a good fight!_

Planning his last act of defiance against the stubborn Germans, he reaches to his scabbard and draws his bayonet, fixing it to the end of the barrel and preparing his training to finally come to good use. As the first German soldier was about to meet him hand-to-hand, a thunderous _BOOM!_ stopped every man in their tracks. American and the few surviving Germans alike looked to the sky to see a massive 550-yard _thing_ gliding very rapidly towards the ground.

"Jesus Christ, run your asses!" Conti shouts as he turns and flees, his former enemies shouting in terror to their men to run as well as all move in a mad frenzy to find cover from this new form of hell from above. Both U.S. and Nazi soldiers took cover what seemed to be out of the path of the new object, as it seemed to have been turning away slightly the whole time, almost as if it was being piloted.

In a few short moments, however, the behemoth came crashing down, skidding along the earth and kicking up a massive wave of snow and dirt as it came to a crashing halt. Peering over the collapsed tree he and other soldiers took shelter behind, it was clear they had made it, but that a good majority of both sides' battalions had not, as this new appearance made its 'landing' square on the frontline.

"Come on, someone's going to need our help, whether that be our guys or whatever's inside of that thing!" ordered the Lieutenant, and the troops began to hesitantly follow him on what seemed like a mile-long march to the crash site.

As one of the first men in the column, Conti was quick to note the decimation the hulk left in its path, as former trench lines were now covered with freshly churned dirt. There seemed to be no hope of finding anything alive as the Corporal made his way forward to the steaming hull of the 'visitor'. As he neared twenty-five feet away, a large hatch slowly slid open, revealing a dim red lighting and shadowy figures.

"Stop right there, hands up now!" was the quick command from a sergeant up front as troops from both sides aimed their weapons at the unknowns. A quieter "Hold your fire unless you're attacked" was spread throughout the ranks, a lucky translator or two able to relay between two languages.

The sense of uneasiness only escalated into fear as a few of the beings stepped forward, warily putting their 'hands' up in front of them. Gasps could be heard from many men, as well as the clacking of bolts being drawn back as weapons were prepared to fire. As the first thing walked out into broad daylight, not one man was left unaffected as eyes took in the plates of these new, bird-like, armored creatures. Everyone suddenly went silent as the deep, harmonic voice was first heard as it pointed to itself: " _Turian"_

-break-

Ship Master Palidus found himself in an interesting situation. He was at the business end of many weapons, wielded by an unknown species, all of whom look well outfitted to fight. Trying to keep as open a posture as possible, he points to himself again, repeating slower, "Tu-ri-an", before gesturing to his whole group and repeating it once more. Apparently, someone got the idea, as one of the troopers wearing a dull green, a knife on his weapon replied, " _Hu-man"_ , turning himself and gesturing to his group.

Turning to Commander Caedos, "Well I guess this means we made first contact. Hopefully this goes somewhat well…"

Hearing this, she chuckles before facing the _humans_ again. The Ship Master opens his omni-tool as easily as possible, trying not to spook the new race while starting his translator program. _Hopefully this pays off…_ As the orange attachment comes alive, a few of the soldiers jump with a small shout, raising their weapons slightly. Holding out the device, he asks slowly, "Speak some into this, please".

The first request going over their heads, he imitates what he wants them to do, speaking multiple phrases into his omni-tool before holding it out again and repeating his question. Yet again, the first to step up is the resourceful _human_ from before, who starts off with what seems like gibberish, speaking for a few minutes into the receiver before a small ping and green light registers the program as complete. With a sigh of relief, the Ship Master sets the program into action before speaking again, "Hello, I'm Ship Master Palidus of the Turian Hierarchy. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?"

-break-

Corporal Conti could not believe his ears. After only a few minutes of talking seemingly meaningless phrases, whatever the machine on the _Turian's_ arm was flashed green. Not soon after, it spoke through the translator: ""Hello, I'm Ship Master Palidus of the Turian Hierarchy. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?"

"Jesus Christ! How the hell?" the Ranger jumped back as the creature came through with near perfect English. Luckily, the Lieutenant recovered from his shock quickly and was first to speak.

"Lieutenant Davis of the United States Army, this is my platoon, as well as some… Germans in the grey uniforms" the CO of the U.S. forces chose to speak carefully of the war in front of these new visitors, even though there were not more than 6 Germans present.

"Well, Lieutenant Da-vis, consider this a peaceful hello from my species. I hope our crash didn't cause too much of an issue. Our ship lost any ability to land safely and we were forced to land here."

"I hate to say you did land on two battalions worth of soldiers from both sides…"

"I apologize, it wasn't our intention to cause any harm, and I assure you we don't want conflict, but I must ask, what do you mean when you say 'sides'?"

"The Germans and my people here have been at war for years. We were stuck in a stalemate throughout the winter while we tried to liberate nations from their control."

"I see… I hope we can remain a neutral party in this conflict, I only have 200 men and women under my command, and that's before my casualty report has fully come in."

"Well, that complicates things, but we can try our best."

"Thank you. I also must ask; may we have a small bit of your food to scan? I need to know if we have to try and sustain ourselves by growing our own food in the future. I can explain the details later."

At the Lieutenant's command, one of the soldiers at the back brought up a K-ration pack, opening it and letting the Turian officer perform his tests. Palidus spoke again after a moment of work on his omni-tool, "Well, it seems like we'll have to make food for ourselves, if we eat any of your food we'll have a fatal allergic reaction."

Hearing this, the Lieutenant's eyes widened, "I know our rations aren't great, but it'll kill you?" This earned a few laughs from the group of soldiers.

"Yes, actually. Your food has different compounds than we need to survive to put it simply enough."

"Well then, I hope you can sustain yourselves for a while. For now, though, I'd like you to meet with my superiors. If you'd like to bring along a few others with you, feel free."

Nodding, the Ship Master called for his XO and the Major, at the same time sending the translator program to all his crew before following the American Lieutenant towards his command post.

-break-

 **Hoorah! Chapter 1 is finished! What did you think? Let me know, I love to hear reviews from you! Just be sure to follow and favorite the story, since I'm really going to be keeping up with it as much as I can. Don't miss an update! I also do take constructive criticism, so feel free.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**WOW! Let me first start out by saying that I am super happy with how much of a following the story has garnered in only 4 or 5 short days! I really appreciate you guys!**

 **So, I was really feeling the second chapter, and I started on it as soon as I could. Once again, any suggestions are appreciated, and if you have any info that I may have gotten wrong regarding Turian ships, ranks etc. let me know and I will correct it.**

 **Also, I feel like the first chapter may have been a bit dull wording wise. For now, we'll chalk that up as simply trying to get the introductions in and such, but after a point in this chapter where a lot of the character building things end I'll step it up a good bit. Also, please review if you have any suggestions!**

 **Well now that that's out of the way, here's Landfall Ch. 2!**

 **I don't own Mass Effect, but my characters and the storyline are my own.**

-break-

Hours after the Turian frigate crashed down to earth, Corporal Conti sat near to the hatch, eating a rations pack and watching the newcomers walk about. The remaining Germans agreed to go back to what remained of their lines, neither group wanting a fight to erupt after the events that had transpired. That left the American squads time to eat and restock ammo.

As for David, he was one of the first to resupply, as he was intrigued by the aliens and wanted every opportunity to observe. Looking up from another bite of his canned dinner, he was surprised to see one of the aliens making its way towards him. As he looked closer, he noticed slight differences from this one to the others, namely no 'spikes' on its head. Mere seconds later, his visitor was sitting on the same log, pulling up the orange tool that he supposed translated for them.

"I noticed you've been watching us, any particular reason why?" the strikingly feminine voice asks.

"Uh… not really? Can't say I've met any aliens before though so I wanted to see what you all were like." Conti answers, obviously nervous.

"That's fair. I'm Ancia Veriso, I'm a Corporal in the Turian army." She flares her mandibles, giving the impression of a smile.

"Corporal David Conti, United States Army. You're the first of your kind I've met, I'm excited to finally talk with one of you!" he turns to face her, "I have so many questions, like how far did you fly to get here? How can you get into space even? Are there more aliens out there?" the list of questions grows as David rattles off more and more.

"Woah, woah one at a time! I have my fair share of questions too, you know. As for how far we've come, I can't really say since we've never been in your system before. How we get into space is basically a really complicated tech called a drive core, and something called the mass effect happens. That's about all I can explain, ask one of the engineers. My turn now; why are you at war with your own species?"

Conti sighs, satisfied with her answers but trying to find a good way to come up with his own. "You see, there are tons of nations on our planet. One of them, Germany, came together with the idea to try and conquer the world under the Nazi banner, and along the way herd different kinds of people into horrible labor camps. We're here to try and stop them."

"Hmm, I see. Well, it seems like you're in the right for trying to stop them. Where I'm from, our home planet and all the colony worlds are united, but under a just government." Ancia replies.

"So, you're a soldier too, right? They let women fight in your army?" David asks quickly, confused by their culture.

"Of course, they don't here?" the Turian seems puzzled as she raises a brow plate.

"No, only us men fight in our army…" the human explains, just as confused as she.

"Seems a bit backwards if you ask me."

The conversation continued like this for a good while, causing some laughs from both as they learned about their homes, families and the like until the Lieutenant and the Turian leadership returned. While the two new friends talked, the Ship Master and Lieutenant shook hands awkwardly while Palidus spoke. "I'm happy we were able to come to an agreement Lieutenant Davis. I look forward to speaking with you again soon. I'll leave you with the Major to talk Army business."

With that, the naval officers returned to their ship as Major Baculus started talking forces with the human leader. As part of their agreement, the Americans promised safe harbor in return for aid in the waning days of the war with the Germans. The Turians tentatively agreed, so long as none of their tech were used by the humans at any point. After a quick discussion of squads and leadership, it was decided that Turian and human officers would coordinate on the field, leading combined units of rangers mixed with a few Turian soldiers. Given that the Human platoon had only 47 soldiers left after their engagements recently, they were divided into three squads of eight, and one squad of seven. The Turian army soldiers numbered only twenty including the three officers, leaving one sergeant for each squad, three soldiers for the eight-man teams, and the rest going to the seven-man team. In the end, the numbers worked surprisingly well, leaving each team at eleven soldiers under the command of dual-species officers.

After a night's rest and apprehensive human soldiers meeting their new comrades, the newly found allies set off through a bleak, snow covered Europe. It was January 1945. Little did they know they would be in for the fight of their lives.

-break-

Winter was nearing its end, a very welcome fact for the Turians as they marched alongside their Ranger brethren. It was early March, nearly a full two months since the crash landing in the dense forests of the Ardennes. Since that day, both species have become friends under fire, advancing through the European countryside with both fear and excitement for the humans, and a sense of honor and duty for their visitors. The skilled officers of both races kept their subordinates safe, having only a few wounded in comparison to the losses sustained by the rest of the Allied forces.

The motley crew that was 2nd Platoon made their way through the trees, new leaves rustling from the breeze while the focused soldiers slowly advanced towards their objective. At first, the battalion was supposed to stage at Remagen, waiting for someone to construct a makeshift crossing of the Rhine. Much to their General's surprise, however, the German defenders had yet to blow the existing bridge, and they were eager to keep it that way. The somewhat small town came into view, with Baculus and Davis ordering the group into the town. It was all too quiet, until they spotted the towers.

The three-story, stone behemoths looked like something out of medieval times, with small windows for easy defense. The two bastions guarded the entrance to the river crossing, and as some sharp-eyed German spotted the first Allied trooper, all hell broke loose. The terrifying sound of MG-42s broke though the silence, sending hundreds of rounds towards the many companies advancing. As 2nd Platoon scrambled to find cover, the ground around them was churned up with fire from the gunners and the occasional crack from a Kar-98k.

Sergeant Andrews was in charge of 3rd Squad, and as his group formed up against the wall of a house he barked orders to them, "Veriso, Conti! You two advance street by street towards the left holdout! The rest of you, covering fire and be ready to leapfrog forward! Go!"

Without hesitation the two Corporals nodded their affirmative, moving to the corner of the building. Before they ran out, Ancia put a hand on his shoulder, "I have your back friend. Covering fire!"

Those words triggered a wall of lead to be thrown towards the German defenses, the surprised forces in question slowing their fire enough that the two allies rushed out, along the house to the next street ahead. David could have sworn that he heard the snap of rounds past his ear as they charged forth. Barely seconds later, their backs thumped up against the wall of a small shop, out of breath from their sprint. Conti was first to call back to the rest of his team, "Got you covered! Move up!"

Rounding the corner, the two soldiers peppered the windows with fire, a human Garand rifle mixed with that of an M-8 Avenger mass accelerator. The sound of boots thudding across the paved ground was broken by a blood-curdling scream, followed by a string of curses as Andrews dragged the injured ranger to cover with the rest of the squad in tow.

"Dammit Peters, you had to go and get shot, now I have to haul your sorry ass all over Germany!" The sergeant joked, waving over a medic to hopefully keep the man from bleeding out.

A quick look from Conti and he knew there was little to no hope. The young private had been shot clear through the gut with German small-arms, the pool of red underneath him steadily growing as the order to push yet again was given. Grenades were being thrown both ways, mortars and artillery shells whistling overhead as both sides tried to best the other in a mass-scale, deadly dance. Though under heavy fire, the allied platoon pushed further, and eventually found themselves holding behind barbed wire and hedgehog traps.

Setting up to breach the tower was the easy part. Actually _doing_ the breaching was a whole different animal, not knowing how many were on the other side of the thick door. So, when 3rd squad was ordered to lead the charge, they shook their nervousness and stepped up. David lined up third behind Ancia and a male turian named Lucus, known for his fearsome abilities in close combat. With a kick of the door, the squad rushed in, and the turian soldier garnered the same response from the Germans as every experience before: pure fear. It was understandable, looking up into the face of a tall, plated monster as he rushed you with a long blade, but the fear did not last long as the male swept through the first floor, cleanly slicing through multiple soldiers while the rest of the squad mopped up.

The rest of the structure was similar to the first floor, Lucus leading the charge with his fellow soldiers bringing up the rear. Finally, though, the Germans realized they were trapped, and the few remaining guards dropped their weapons, rifle and sub-machinegun alike clattering to the ground. With a triumphant cheer, the rangers led their captives back outside, as the humans muttered a few choice words.

Not long after, the second tower fell, and a final push from the regular infantry assured that the bridge would be theirs. After securing a small 'beachhead' and setting up strong defenses, the Americans that led the assault were relieved, and meandered into the town for some well needed r-and-r. It wasn't surprising that the soldiers of 3rd squad (after getting the ok from Sarge) found the closest bar, keeping out any other troopers that tried to enter while setting up a large table for the nine of them. Some of the vets, Conti included, were the first to raid some of the bottles and glasses, while the three turian members of the unit brought out previously hidden bottles of their own dextro liquor.

"Hey, hey everybody, shut up for a sec!" David's call quieted everybody down. "Let's all raise a glass for Peters, so that tough son-of-a-bitch pulls through!"

His small toast caused everyone to raise their glass as one, shouting "To Peters!" or the occasional "Hear hear!" Taking a pull from his glass of German schnapps, he sat next to his squad mate Ancia, smile still on his face.

"Glad you made it out ok today. Makes me think, what will you do when the war is over? We're getting closer to Berlin every day, and it seems more and more like you might be stuck here after all…" He looked down into the clear liquid before looking back over to her, the light white markings on her mandibles striking against her darker tan complexion.

The female seemed puzzled at the question for a second, putting down her own glass of oddly purple drink, resting her chin on her hand. Mandibles fluttering as she thought, she finally replies, "Honestly… I haven't thought much of it until now. But I think I will just end up staying with my people, wherever we end up. I'm not sure how it would be trying to make my way in a world where no one knows what you are…" She trails off again in thought while Conti nods to himself. Out of nowhere, he smacks his hand down on the table, startling her.

"I have a great idea! Come back with me to my hometown, NYC! It has everything you could possibly want, and I'm sure we could find a way to get you your food. Those navy types just make nutrient packs anyway, right? At least, until we can get you your real food." He looked over with a smile on his face, proud of his self-titled 'great idea'.

Ancia turned her head towards him, raising a brow plate questioningly, "I don't know, David, I'm sure it would work with my food but at the same time how would I fit in?" She ran the option over and over in her head. She had been interested in human culture after living and fighting with them for the long months, everything David had told her made her want to go with him, but at the same time, could she really live so far from her people?

"Don't worry about fitting in, New York has people from nearly every nation across the world! So many different cultures! I'm sure they wouldn't mind having one more." Conti replied, nudging her with his elbow as he poured yet another glass of his captured schnapps.

"Let me think about it, would you please? It's a big choice for me and I need time. I'll tell you as soon as I make up my mind" Ancia promises, finishing off her second glass.

With a nod and another smile, the two friends tune back in to the banter of their squad, laughing and drinking the rest of the night away.

-break-

It was May 7th. 2nd Platoon had made it through this long, only losing a few rangers and a single turian in the line of duty. While the squads rested in their makeshift camp, only 100 miles from the capital Berlin, the Lieutenant quickly organized the troops with a smile on his face. "Gentlemen, and ladies" He noted the few female turians present, "I have great news! You all know that Adolf offed himself a good week or so back, but it's official, the war's over!"

This was all it took for the soldiers of 2nd Platoon (And most of the 1st Army) to break into a loud cheer, shaking hands with each other, close friends hugging each other, dancing, even some select few crying tears of joy as the all in all six year-long conflict finally came to a close in Europe. "This means" the officer continued after his troops had regained some composure, "you are all getting shipped home, unless you choose to stay, volunteer to keep the peace here until we can officially call it quits. Good work, all of you. I was proud to lead you all."

Ancia found herself in an odd mood. Where she should be overjoyed, she only felt torn and upset, still stuck between two paths for her life. Stay with her kind, or venture into the unknown that was America. She talked with the Major about her options, who happily told her that the entirety of the crew would be living on base at Fort Meade, in a place called Maryland. Apparently, the government was kind enough to grant the 'visitors', as they were called, housing and the space to grow their own food to supplement their own supply. All turians had the opportunity to live where they pleased if they wished, as reward for their service, as well as being given dual citizenship in return for some study of their technology and culture. From what the Major told her, the Ship Master accepted this deal with glee, knowing that his crew and soldiers would be able to live somewhat normal lives for a long time, or until rescue arrived.

Knowing this eased her mind some, since her people would be reasonably close to New York, so she made her decision. Gathering her belongings, she went to find David, to tell him about her decision.

"David, I found out what I want to do now that the war's finished." She told him, grabbing his attention as he worked on getting his own things together in his pack. With a nod for her to continue, "I'd like to go back to New York with you, if I'm still welcome. I worked things out with my people so that I'll get shipments of food, and apparently your president is letting us become somewhat of citizens. I figure that I can learn a lot from going back with you. Of course, only if you can…" She looked down at her armor's boots, nervous to hear his reply.

"Ancia," She looked up at him, hearing her name, "You're more than welcome to come back with me. My apartment has room that you can take up. Even a big couch you can use to sleep, at least for now…" He chuckled at the thought. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd really be happy to have you." The genuine smile was enough to let Ancia know he meant what he said, and with a smile of her own, they finished packing and climbed onto an army truck headed for the coast.

Within the week, the two were boarded onto a cramped transport, on their way on the long journey back to the East Coast, a fresh start to both of their lives.

-break-

 **Well that's that! What do you think my fantastic readers? I really like to hear from you as well as see all the love this story is getting in follows and favorites! Stay tuned for the next chapter! For now, peace!**


End file.
